6 Chef Upgrades for Roast Chicken

It’s Technique Week at Food & Wine and today we’re talking all things roast chicken, from the perfect sides to the best sauces to the roasting method. Every chef has a different (and strong) point of view on how a chicken should be roasted—check out how chefs Kristen Kish and Michael Symon think it should be done in our new Chefs in Conversation video series.

Grant Achatz’s Garlicky Chicken Grant Achatz’s favorite comfort food is a simple roast chicken. To give his version extra flavor, he rubs garlicky butter under the breast skin and packs the cavity with more garlic.

Matt Danzer’s Thai Roast Chicken To ensure golden, crackly skin, Matt Danzer first brines the chicken, then rubs the bird with a combination of coconut cream and kaffir lime.

Giada De Laurentiis’s Red Wine Chicken For her exceptional chicken, Giada De Laurentiis stuffs red wine–butter under the skin and roasts the whole bird on a bed of fennel, cherry tomatoes and Peppadew peppers.

Jerry Traunfeld’s Bay Leaf Chicken This simple chicken from Seattle chef Jerry Traunfeld gets its incredible flavor from lots of fresh bay leaves. He tucks them into the cavity and slides them under the skin before roasting the bird.